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Morning News

FDA to Consider Making "Morning-After" Pills Over-the-Counter

Aired February 5, 2001 - 10:05 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to medical news. The Food and Drug Administration takes a look today at emergency contraception for women. The FDA will consider a proposal to make the often-called "morning-after" pill available without a prescription. But there's a heated debate over whether that should happen.

CNN medical correspondent Rhonda Rowland reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RHONDA ROWLAND, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This situation is all too common.

CANDICE GRAHAM: Me and my boyfriend were here. And usually we use condoms whenever we have sexual intercourse, but we had just run out.

ROWLAND: But Candice Graham, a college sophomore, had heard about emergency conception, high doses of the hormones found in birth control pills that can be taken within 72 hours of unprotected to prevent pregnancy.

GRAHAM: I went to the doctor and -- to get it just to be on the safe side.

ROWLAND: But trying to be safe turned out to be nearly impossible.

GRAHAM: I had to wait for a very long time to get it. It was kind of like an all-day event.

ROWLAND: That could soon change. The first step is now being taken to make Plan B, a type of emergency contraception, available over the counter without a doctor's prescription.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We know these methods work much better the sooner the treatment is started. And so this is a no-brainer. It has to be available in pharmacies, and it has to be available on weekends.

ROWLAND: Health experts believe if widely used, this so-called "morning-after" pill could cut the abortion rate by half.

DR. MIMI ZIEMAN, GRADY/EMORY HEALTH SYSTEM: Whether you are pro- abortion or anti-abortion, it's estimated that increased use of EC can reduce up to a million unintended pregnancies a year.

ROWLAND: Most anti-abortion groups have not taken a stand on emergency contraception. But there is some opposition.

JUDIE BROWN, AMERICAN LIFE LEAGUE: What we have a problem with is playing Russian roulette with the potential that a life begins at conception could have begun at conception and will be taken.

ROWLAND: Doctors say the pills work by preventing ovulation, fertilization or implantation of a fertilized egg. In an unusual move, the American Medical Association is supporting efforts to make the "morning-after" pill available without a prescription.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLAND: Proponents of making emergency contraception available over the counter do have an idea of the impact it could have on reducing unintended pregnancies.

A study was conducted in Washington state where pharmacists have the unique ability to prescribe certain drugs without a doctor's prescription. Over a one-year period, almost 12,000 emergency contraception pills were provided to women.

Researchers believe this prevented approximately 677 unintended pregnancies. Out of that number, it's estimated the pills prevented 315 abortions, 272 births, 83 miscarriages, and seven ectopic pregnancies, which can be very dangerous to women.

But since the "morning-after" pill is 75 to 80 percent effective in preventing pregnancy, doctors say it's not wise to use it as a regular form of birth control.

PHILLIPS: But there's a lot of confusion with this pill and the abortion pill, right?

ROWLAND: There is a lot of confusion. And the two should not be confused. They're completely different.

Again, emergency contraception or the "morning-after" pill is taken as a precautionary measure to prevent pregnancy. If a woman is already pregnant, the pill will not have any effect whatsoever.

And, again, with the abortion pill, that is used to end a known established pregnancy.

So, one of them is used to cause an abortion. And again the "morning-after" pill is used to prevent abortions or pregnancy.

PHILLIPS: Any side effects?

ROWLAND: No. The doctors say they've studied this combination for about 25 years. And it's been used for many years as a combination of certain birth control pills. And they have not seen any dangerous side effects. Even women who can not take birth control pills, because of their age or because they smoke, will not really have any kind of side effects.

And also what's important to know, Kyra, is if a woman is pregnant and she takes this, it does not have any effect on the developing fetus.

PHILLIPS: Is there an age limit for this?

ROWLAND: This could be used by any woman of reproductive age.

What is very interesting in the proposal to make Plan B available over the counter, the manufacturers would like to see it stocked behind the pharmacist counter. So you wouldn't go into a pharmacy and pick it up off the shelf like a cold remedy. You'd need to ask for it. And that way, they could prevent really young women from coming in and using it.

PHILLIPS: All right, Rhonda Rowland, thank you very much.

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